After much discussion, we’ve finally figured out the Toyota Prius Prime’s spirit animal: an anteater. That long snoot, the humped appearance, and those squinting headlights look ready for ant-scooping duty. Or maybe it’s more of a platypus. Either way, the point is that Toyota’s newest—and for the first time, stylistically independent—plug-in version of the Prius hybrid looks weird enough to invite such comparisons. Even so, the Prime is prettier than the regular Prius, a car we’ve described as having been designed “by people obviously on psychotropic drugs.”

Perhaps someone slipped us a similar stimulant before we decided to test not one 2017 Prius Prime, but all three versions of it: the entry-level Plus, the mid-level Premium, and the top-of-the-line Advanced. All three are separated from the ubiquitous Prius hybrid by way of a charge port, the unique styling, and a larger 8.8-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that enables an EPA-rated 25 miles of electric-only driving range. When the battery’s charge is depleted enough—the car always holds some electrons in reserve—the Prime reverts to a conventional hybrid mode (what the super nerdy call “charge sustaining mode”), blending electric power with the bridled fury of a 95-hp 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle inline-four gas engine.

Have It Three Ways

The Prime Plus starts at $27,985 and includes niceties such as LED headlights and taillights, heated door mirrors, automatic grille shutters, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with navigation, a 4.2-inch driver information display, automatic climate control, heated front seats, and a proximity key with push-button start. That equipment largely makes up for the $3625 price premium over the sparsely equipped base, non-Plussed Prius. Apples-to-apples, the Prime Plus is just $365 more than a similarly equipped Prius hybrid, which is called the Three in Toyota parlance. This test model rang in at $28,380, thanks to its $395 Hypersonic Red paint.

Next up the ladder is the $29,685 Prime Premium, which swaps out the Plus’s 7.0-inch infotainment display for a massive 11.6-inch, vertically oriented screen that mimics the built-in tablet in Tesla’s Model S and Model X. The only other upgrades are SofTex faux-leather seat upholstery in place of cloth, proximity-key sensors for the front passenger door and the trunk to augment the Plus’s one in the driver’s door, and an inductive phone-charging pad in the center console.

The top-spec Advanced commands $33,985 and adds a heated steering wheel, a color head-up display, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, parking sensors, a self-parking system, and remote controls for the HVAC system. The Advanced also is the only Prime that includes blind-spot monitoring, although adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning, automated emergency braking, automatic high-beams, and lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist are standard on all models. Next to special, extra-cost paint colors, no options are offered on any Prime.

Inside Looking Out

Nonetheless, all Prius Prime interiors are more or less the same. Although the seat coverings differ, each presents the same rubberized plastic dashboard, soft-touch door panels, and four-seat layout. There’s no middle seat in the rear, meaning the Prime can carry only four passengers, all of whom at least enjoy plenty of space. The seats are reasonably comfortable, and sightlines to the front and sides are good. Things get unconventional to the rear, thanks to the split rear window and curved hatchback glass, although the wavy panel has little effect on clarity. Peering through the rearview mirror, you might also catch a glimpse of the exposed carbon-fiber weave along the edges of the hatch—to save weight, the whole aperture is made of the high-tech stuff.

The Plus’s 7.0-inch touchscreen is cribbed from mainstream Toyota models and works well, with a straightforward menu structure and handy hard-button shortcuts to key functions, including audio, navigation, and phone, as well as honest-to-ergonomics volume and tuning knobs. The 11.6-inch touchscreen on Premium and Advanced models seems cool at first, with plenty of display space and wow factor, but ultimately it fails to take advantage of its promise. First of all, Toyota inexplicably applied the same half-baked navigation-map graphics to this giant screen, meaning the aesthetic that feels dated on the 7.0-inch screen is simply magnified. Unlike the Plus, the Premium and the Advanced stuff the climate controls into the big screen, making adjustments more of a chore. Furthermore, non-navigation functions are relegated to small buttons on a smaller section of the screen’s lower half, meaning most of the extra display space is wasted. When the navigation map is set to full-screen mode, the climate and audio settings are buried in the lower corners of the screen. Toyota did fit the Prime’s touchscreen with shortcuts in the form of floating onscreen balls that spin around and provide quick access to efficiency, apps, and navigation-destination menus, but they don’t redeem the setup enough to make us forgive the frustrating operation of the capacitive-touch up/down temperature and volume controls. The base Plus’s physical knobs and climate controls work much better.

Prime Mover

Every Prime uses a 95-hp 1.8-liter four-cylinder and two motor/generator units (MGUs) that combine to produce 121 horsepower. These three power sources are harnessed to the front wheels via a planetary gearset that behaves like a continuously variable automatic transmission. To further save fuel, the gas engine runs the Atkinson cycle, and reverse movement is handled purely on electricity. As on the Prius hybrid, the electric motors double as generators, converting kinetic energy (motion) into electricity that otherwise would be turned into heat by the friction brakes, instead of being stored in the traction battery. The pack lives under the rear seats and weighs 265 pounds. It’s also of the lithium-ion variety in every Prime; only higher-end non-plug-in Prius hybrids use lithium-ion packs, while the rest have cheaper nickel-metal-hydride units.

Toyota gives Prime owners a say in how their machines dole out their electric and gas power. Fully charge the battery via the included 120-volt wall-outlet charger cable (which will take a while) or a faster, 240-volt hookup (a little over two hours), and the Prime defaults to EV mode at the next startup. One can choose to leave it in this setting, running through the electric-only range, or push a console button to switch into hybrid mode and (mostly) preserve the battery’s charge for electric-only operation later. A separate button calls up an EV Auto mode that lets the Prime decide how to use the juice. In this case, the car operates primarily as a hybrid but judiciously doles out stints of electric-only operation where it sees fit. Capping things off are Normal, Eco, and Power driving modes. The most notable is Eco, which dulls acceleration to such a degree that it becomes annoying; the differences between the Normal and Power modes were negligible, however.

Performance Is a Relative Term

We tested all three Prius Primes to gauge the effect of the different trim levels’ equipment on the vehicles’ weights and efficiency. Any variation might influence fuel economy and performance, since the trio otherwise utilizes the same powertrain and battery. Consider that notion busted, as just 28 pounds separate the base car from the top-spec version. Riding on identical tires, the three Primes logged nearly identical performances at the track. The only deviation came from the Advanced, which posted a markedly lower skidpad-grip figure than the others, an anomaly we’re chalking up to a potentially dirty track surface. Thanks to the latest Prius’s independent rear suspension, the Prime does a reasonable job of soaking up road imperfections and delivering a planted, secure feeling in corners despite its low-rolling-resistance tires. Deep potholes reveal some structural shimmies—no doubt a result of the weight-conscious construction—but for the most part, the car is surprisingly quiet and feels solid, a major departure from earlier Priuses.

All three Primes failed to breach the 10.0-second mark sauntering to 60 mph. We tested them in hybrid mode, in which they’re making full power; expect each to be about two seconds slower to 60 mph in EV-only mode. Subjectively, however, the Prime feels peppier running solely on electrons, with an instant, smooth hit of torque off the line that’s perfect for zipping around town. When the gas engine kicks on, it is growly and grainy and makes the powertrain recalcitrant to respond to accelerator inputs, as if it’s trying to slow down the proceedings. Blame the CVT-like nature of the transmission, which allows the engine to rev away while it alters the drive ratio to build speed. This creates a disconnect between the languid acceleration and the engine’s determined wailing that makes merging with faster-moving traffic feel more pained than when only the electric motors are quietly doing the same work.

That last point is key, because it betrays the Prime’s most frustrating aspect: It’s arguably a better electric car than a hybrid, but it can pretend to be an EV only for about 20 miles at a time in the real world. Hit the highway in EV mode (the Prime can achieve 84 mph in this setting), and your range plummets to around 12 miles. The Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid is better to drive overall, looks less funky, has provisions for a fifth passenger, and is equally compelling when acting as an electric car, when it offers a 53-mile range per charge, according to the EPA. We also achieved a 60-MPGe efficiency figure during our test of the Volt, besting all three Primes’ low-50-MPGe figures. In addition, a Volt beat a Prime in a recent comparison test.

Given all this, the Prime’s bargain status relative to the Volt seems more like cautious positioning on Toyota���s part than an incentive in its own right. Sure, the Prime is barely more expensive than its plugless Prius counterpart, and a loaded Prime Advanced is less than $34,000 even before any tax incentives are factored in. The least expensive Volt costs $110 more than a Prime Advanced—$6110 more than a base Plus—yet equipping it similarly to the Toyota (putting the price around $40,000 before incentives) seems worth it. Ultimately, your lifestyle, commuting distance, and access to charge ports will determine if you’ll choose a Prime over the Volt’s vastly greater electric-only range, quicker acceleration, and superior dynamics.

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